Protective device for a bow on gift-wrapped packages



July 2, 1963 w. A. HARVEY, JR 3,09

PROTECTIVE DEVICE FOR A BOW ON GIFT-WRAPPED PACKAGES Filed March 50. 1960 INVENTOR WALLACE A. HARVEY, JR.

ATTORNEY "Ill United States Patent 3,095,967 PROTECTIVE DEVICE FOR A BOW 0N GIFT-WRAPPED PACKAGES Wallace A. Harvey, Jr., 1626 N. Fort Myer Drive, Arlington, Va. Filed Mar. 30, 1960, Ser. No. 18,622 3 Claims. (Cl. 20645.3\3)

This invention relates to a protective or ornamental device for use with gift-wrapped packages.

It is the common practice in Wrapping gifts to finish oif the packag after it has been tied with. ribbon, to apply to the top of the package a highly ornamental bow. Such bows, of course, are extremely fragile and, "handied to any substantial extent, for example in delivery or shipment, the bows become distorted or mashed, and accordingly must be protected. This is commonly done in department and other stores by surrounding the bow with a cardobard or similar fence attached to the package by adhesive tape. The application of such protective means adds greatly to the time required by a worker in wrapping the package, tying the ribbon therearound, applying the bow and then the protector.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a novel device which may be made highly ornamental in itself so as to eliminate the use of a bow, or which may be employed as a protector for the bow to prevent di-stortion or mashing of the same in handling the package.

A further object is to provide a device of this character which may be manufactured very economically, and which may be applied to a gift-wrapped package in a fraction of the time normally required for applying protective devices to the package.

A further object is to provide a device of the character referred to which may be supplied with means for engaging portions of the ribbon with which a gift package is tied to anchor the device relative to the package.

A further object is to provide such a device having bottom edge portions corresponding in shape to the .top surface of the gift-wrapped package to seat therein, and to provide the device with novel types of slots adapted to engage the ribbon with which the package is tied to maintain the device effectively seated on the top of the package, the tension of the ribbon holding the device .in proper position.

A further object is to provide the device with oppositely facing slots at opposite sides thereof, the slots being of such character that the device may be placed in proper position on the package and rotated to engage the slots with the ribbon to hold the device in position.

A further object is to provide a device of the general nature referred to which is capable of being formed in a variety of shapes and sizes one of which, for example, may be substantially dome-shaped to act as a protector for the ornamental bow on a gift package, but which may be made, in itself, highly ornamental to serve as a finishing device for the package without the use of the usual ornamental bow.

A further object is to provide in combination with a gift package tied with a flexible element and provided with an ornamental bow or other fragile ornamental device, a protector for the ornamental device in the nature of a relatively rigid hollow protective device having an open bottom seating on the package and provided with a slot means engageable with the flexible element to fix the protective device in position, the protective device being attachable to the flexible element by placing it in position on the package and then rotating it so that points at the ends of the slots will slide beneath the flexible element upon turning movement of the protective device, thus attaching the protective device to the flexible element.

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Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.

In the drawing I have shown one embodiment of the invention. In this showing:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a gift package showing the device applied;

FIGURE 2. is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of the same, the present device being shown in section;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation showing one of the ribbon-engaging slots; and

FIGURE 4 is an under-side perspective view of the device.

Referring to *FIGURE 1, the numeral 10 designates a gift package as a whole, wrapped with paper or other material 11 and tied by a flexible element such as a ribbon 12 shown in the present instance as having one strand extending longitudinally of the package as at 13 and a cross strand 14- extending transversely of the box. The box may be finished in the usual manner by the application to the top thereof, at the junction of the ribbon strands l3 and 14, of an ornamental bow 15 of any desired type.

As stated above, it is the common practice upon the completion of such gift package to surround the ornamental bow with a cardboard or similar fence attached to the package by adhesive tape. The present device eliminates the necessity for using such protective means and may be applied in a fraction ofthe time required for the application of such means.

The device has been illustrated in the present instance as a substantially hemispherical body 18, preferably formed of a suitable plastic which is relatively rigid when the device is formed hollow and rather thin-walled, as shown in FIGURE 2. The device is formed with lower edge portions 19 shaped to conform to the shape of the top of the package and to lie thereagainst. In the present instance, the package is shown as having a flat top, in which case the lower edge portions of the device will lie in a plane to seat flat against the top of the package. For packages which curve from side to side, the edge portions 19 may be similarly curved, or such edge portions may be made of any desired shape so as to snugly lit against one face of the package.

In the present instance, the device 18 is shown as being provided with diametrically opposite slots, each indicated as a whole by the numeral 20. The slots are identical and are provided with entrance openings 21, and each such opening is defined at one side by the end of a tongue 22 the free extremity of which slopes upwardly as at 23 from a lower pointed tongue end 24. At the upper extremity of each sloping edge 23, each tongue 22 is provided with a hump or lug 25 back of which the slot is provided with a straight edge 26, lower than the top of the hump 25, the edge 26 being the bottom edge of a straight inner circumferential portion ,27 of each of the slots. The tongues 22 at opposite sides of the device extend circumferentially in the same direction, as will be apparent from FIGURE 4.

Operation The package 10 is tied in the usual manner by wrapping it, usually with ornamental paper 11, after which the package is tied tightly with the ribbon 12, as described above. Any type of bow :15 then may be applied to the ribbon at the crossing points of the strands '13 and 14 so that the finished package will be highly ornamental in appearance in accordance with the usual practice. The person wrapping the package will then apply one of the devices 18 over the top of the package with the mouth of the slot opening 21 directly over one of the ribbon strands 13 or 14. The device is then pressed downwardly against the package, flexing the top surface portion of the paper 11 downwardly slightly beneath the plane of the ribbon strand over which the device is being applied. Under such conditions, the bottom of the ribbon strand will lie slightly above the plane of the bottom of the device as indicated in dotted lines in FIGURE 3. Accordingly, the point 2 4 will lie slightly below the bottom of the ribbon strand.

It will be noted that the horizontal dimension of the mouth of the slot opening 21 fronrthe point 24 across the mouth of the slot opening is made substantially greater than upper portions of the slot opening 21. This is done to accommodate the device to application to ribbons of various widths. If the ribbon is wider than the mouth of the slot opening, the left-hand edge of the ribbon as viewed in FIGURE 3 will be maintained to the right of the point 24 and the opposite edge of the ribbon may extend beneath the edge portion 19 beyond the opening 21. In such case, downward pressure on the device will depress the right-hand edge of the ribbon, but the tension of the ribbon will maintain the left-hand edge thereof at a level slightly above the point 24. The device having been placed in position as stated, it is then rotated counterclockwise and the pointed end 24 of the tongue 22 at the bottom of each slot 20.wil1.s1ide beneath the adjacent ribbon strand and the latter will be caused to slide upwardly over the inclined face 23. Since the left-hand edge of the ribbon strand as viewed in FIGURE 3 engages the slope 23, downward pressure on the device may be released. The rotational action of the device is continued until the ribbon strand comes to rest on the slot edge 26. The device will then be held by the tension of the ribbon, and no other fastening means is required for holding the device against separation from the package. Rotation of the device in one direction is prevented by the closed inner end of the slot portion 27, while rotation in the opposite direction is prevented by the hump 25.

It will be apparent that in the form illustrated the device serves perfectly as a protecting means for the how 15. Obviously, however, the device need not be made in the shape illustrated, but may be made in itself of any do sired ornamental design to serve as a finishing ornament for the package. In such case, the bow may be eliminated. In the form shown in FIGURE 1, the device is, of course, too large in proportion to the size of the package to present an ornamental appearance, but in this case it is intended to be purely functional in operation as a protective means for the body 15. Where the device is molded into ornamental shapes and variously colored, it may be made in a variety of sizes for application to a package tying ribbon so as to impart a highly ornamental finished appearance to the package. The device obvi ously forms in itself a novel article of manufacture, and it is also novel in its combination with the flexible ele ments with which a gift or other package is tied. The combination is formed, as will be apparent above, by placing the device 18 in position with a straight run of the flexible element, such as the strand 13, in position in the open bottoms of the slots 21. With the bottom edge 19 in contact with the package, rotation of the device counterclockwise as viewed in FIGURE 1, will cause the strand 13 to be lifted by the points 2'4, so that the strand slides upwardly over the inclined edges 23 and into the closed ends of the slots. The strand 13 will be tightly tied but will give sufficiently to be moved upwardly into the slots and the tension of the strand 13 will hold the device 18 against the package while the humps 19 prevent free movement of the strand 13 out of the slots. Thus the device acts in combination with the strand 13 to be maintained in a position on the package to protect the fragile bow 15 or other ornamental device.

The tying of gift packages is a rather tedious timeconsuming operation which is substantially lengthened by the usual practice of applying a protective fence around an ornamental bow on the package. It obviously requires no more than a second or two to apply and lock the present device relative to the package.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of the parts may be made as do not depart from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with a package having a flexible element tied therearound and a fragile ornament fixed with relation thereto, a unitary body having a substantially vertical bottom edge shaped to seat upon the package over said ornamental and said flexible element, said bottom edge having diametrically opposite slots provided with closed ends arranged above said bottom edge and entering ends extending from said closed ends downwardly through said bottom edge, the entering end of each slot having opposite edges, one of which is inclined at an angle to the vertical and intersects said bottom edge in a point, the points of the two slots extending circumferentially in the same direction whereby rotation of said body in said one direction with said bottom edge in engagement with the package will cause portions of said flexible element to slide upwardly over said inclined edges and move into the closed ends of said slots.

2.. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein the closed end of each-slot has a lower supporting edge for the flexible element and is provided between such edge and said inclined edge of the slot with a hump to retain said flexible element within the closed end of the slot.

3. The combination defined in claim 2 wherein said opposite edges of each slot diverge downwardly to provide each slot with a relatively wide bottom opening whereby, it said flexible element is a ribbon, the width thereof can be accommodated wholly within the bottom openings of said slots when said bottom edge is placed in contact with the package.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS James Feb. 5, 1957 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A PACKAGE HAVING A FLEXIBLE ELEMENT TIED THEREAROUND AND A FRAGILE ORNAMENT FIXED WITH RELATION THERETO, A UNITARY BODY HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL BOTTOM EDGE SHAPED TO SEAT UPON A PACKAGE OVER SAID ORNAMENTAL AND SAID FLEXIBLE ELEMENT, SAID BOTTOM EDGE HAVING DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE SLOTS PROVIDED WITH CLOSED ENDS ARRANGED ABOVE SAID BOTTOM EDGE AND ENTERING ENDS EXTENDING FROM SAID CLOSED ENDS DOWNWARDLY THROUGH SIAD BOTTOM EDGE, THE ENTERING END OF EACH SLOT HAVING OPPOSITE EDGES, ONE OF WHICH IS INCLINED AT AN ANGLE TO THE VERTICAL AND INTERSECTS SAID BOTTOM EDGE IN A POINT, THE POINTS OF THE TWO SLOTS EXTENDING CIRCUMFERENTIALLY IN THE SAME DIRECTION WHEREBY ROTATION OF SAID BODY IN SAID ONE DIRECTION WITH SAID BOTTOM EDGE IN ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PACKAGE WILL CAUSE PORTIONS OF SAID FLEXIBLE ELEMENT TO SLIDE UPWARDLY OVER SAID INCLINED EDGES AND MOVE INTO THE CLOSED END OF SAID SLOTS. 